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‘The Lyons’ – and Linda Lavin — Will Be Back on Broadway

By Patrick Healy February 21, 2012 4:40 pmFebruary 21, 2012 4:40 pm

Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times Linda Lavin in “The Lyons” at the Vineyard Theater.

The critically acclaimed Off Broadway production of “The Lyons,” Nicky Silver’s black comedy starring Linda Lavin as an acid-tongued family matriarch, will transfer to Broadway this April in time to qualify for eligibility for the 2012 Tony Awards, the play’s lead producer announced on Tuesday – adding another high-profile new play and more notable performances to the Tonys horse race this spring.

Ms. Lavin and Dick Latessa, both Tony winners, will return with the production to the Cort Theater, where the play “Stick Fly” will close on Sunday. Mr. Latessa played the patriarch in “The Lyons” last fall in the Vineyard Theater production; the other cast members there — Michael Esper, Kate Jennings Grant, Brenda Pressley and Gregory Wooddell – are expected to return for Broadway as well, a spokesman for the production said.

“The Lyons” will be the first play on Broadway by Mr. Silver, the author of dyspeptic dramas like “Pterodactyls” and “Raised in Captivity” and other works about oddball families. The lead producer is Kathleen K. Johnson (“Hair,” “Race,” “A Life in the Theater”) and the director is Mark Brokaw (“Lobby Hero”).

Performances will begin in the first week of April, with an opening before the April 26 eligibility cut-off, the spokesman said; exact dates will be announced later. “The Lyons” will be among several new plays in the hunt for Tony recognition this spring, along with “Other Desert Cities,” “Clybourne Park,” “Venus in Fur,” “One Man, Two Guvnors” and “The Columnist.”